Electric Heat
by verticallimit379
Summary: It starts out as a regular case, but will it turn out to be way more than that? When this case hits too close to home will Castle and Beckett be able to hold on to their friendship?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Castle, the TV show or any of the characters. Now Enjoy the story!**

**Chapter 1**

"Hey dad" Alexis said as she walked into her fathers office. "How is the book coming?"

"Ok, you're stuck in a 4 ft square closet with your hands and feet tied, tape over your mouth, no handle on the inside. All there is in there is a coat hangar...how do you get out?" came the reply from behind the computer screen of Rick Castle's laptop.

"Do you mean if I was stuck in a closet or if Nikki Heat was stuck in a closet?"

"Well assuming you never end up in that situation, Nikki"

"Well if there's no handle, that means no lock to pick, so the hangar is pretty useless. The only way out is to kick the door down."

"I knew you took after me sweetheart." Castle said amid a flurry of typing.

"Thanks dad, I'm going out with some friends from school. Ill be back in a couple hours."

"Sure sweetie, have fun."

All of a sudden there was a crash from the other room. Castle got up and rushed out of his office to see what happened. He got into the living room to see Martha standing with a tennis ball in each hand and looking at another one on the ground amidst shards of broken lamp.

"Uh mom, do I want to know what's going on here?"

"Oh I was just trying to teach myself how to juggle dear, sorry about the lamp, I'm fine though" she rattled off, setting the tennis balls down and starting to pick up the pieces of the lamp.

"Learning…to…juggle?" Castle asked with a confused look on his face, helping her to sweep up the mess.

"Yes, it's for a part in this play that's coming around soon. Something about a feisty middle aged woman who ran away from the circus."

"Sorry I asked" muttered Castle as he finished cleaning up and headed back to his office, leaving his mother to her juggling lessons.

Just as he got back to his desk his phone rang. He looked at the caller id before smiling and picking it up.

"Castle" he listened to the voice on the other end for a second.

"I'm on my way."

Meanwhile….

Detective Kate Beckett rolled over and looked at her clock. 10:27. She sighed happily and said a quick prayer for Saturdays, her one day to sleep in. She decided to spend the rest of her morning on her guilty pleasure: reading Richard Castle novels. She felt even more guilty about it now that they had been working together for so long, but she couldn't help it. She loved them too much to give them up because all of a sudden she was friends with the author.

She got out of bed, grabbed her favorite one off the shelf and curled up on the couch, still in her pajamas.

An hour later her stomach told her it was time for some food. She closed the book and put it back on the shelf. Opening the refrigerator she realized she had forgotten to go to the store. Crap. Searching the cupboards she found a box of macaroni and cheese and decided that it would have to do for now. She looked at the clock again. 11:48, less than an hour before she had to be at the precinct. While her lunch was cooking the detective got dressed. She grabbed her badge and credentials, inhaled a bowl of mac and cheese and headed out the door of her apartment, grabbing a taxi once she got to the street.

She walked over to her desk and was about to take her coat off when her partners, Detectives Ryan and Esposito entered the room at a fast pace.

"Don't bother" they said in unison

"We got a case" said Esposito.

"Female vic found dead in her hotel room" finished Ryan.

The three of them races out the door as Beckett reached for her phone and dialed the, by now, familiar number.

She smiled a little bit as she heard the voice pick up on the other end.

"We have a body. You coming?"

**Well, that's the end of chapter 1. please review and let me know what you thought!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer/ Please read: As always I do not own the show or any of the characters. Also a note: there is religious content in this chapter, and will be in later chapters. I myself am not in any way religious; I just thought it would be an interesting concept to weave into this story because it is something I have not read/seen before in the show. The quote in this chapter came from my sisters' version of the bible, which is the only copy we have in my house. I know there are multiple versions so the wording may not be exact to other versions. Also none of the religious content is meant to by in any way offensive to anyone of any religion. Thank you.**

**Chapter 2**

When detective Beckett arrived at the crime scene, medical examiner Lanie Parish was already there. Kate walked into the bathroom, where the body was and almost screamed. She had seen a lot of strange crime scenes before, but this one was pretty high on the list. Castle walked in a second later.

"Ok, I'm here, where's the…" his voice trailed off and he stopped in the doorway. "Wow"

"Yeah" Beckett said walking over to the M.E. "So what happened here Lanie?" she asked, taking a couple steps closer to the body and shooting Castle a look when he stayed where he was.

The three of them looked down. The body was curled up in the fetal position in the bathtub. There was a partially eaten apple in the tub next to the victim. Also in with the body and the apple was a live snake. It was curling itself around the victims' body, tasting the air. Kate kept shooting it nervous glances- she hated snakes. Written on the wall above the bathtub was 'Genesis 2:15-2:17'. The snake started winding itself around the victims arm.

"Will someone get that snake out of here!" Beckett snapped.

"What's wrong detective? Feeling a little squeamish?" quipped Esposito with a smirk. Beckett glared at him and looked at Ryan.

"Animal control is on their way" he assured her.

"Thanks Ryan, why don't you and Esposito look around the room for an ID. Lanie?" She turned back to the ME.

"Well it's kind of hard to say, she has some blistering on her arm, but there's no open wound which means no bullets or stabbing. No visible bruising which means there likely wasn't a struggle. No marks around her neck rules out strangulation."

"What about drowning?"

"Her hair isn't wet, and the apple is starting to get brown but not rotten at all yet which means the scene is too fresh for it to have had time to dry by the time she was found"

"Then what the heck killed her?"

"I don't know detective, but I'll be able to tell you more after I get her back to the lab."

"Sounds good, thanks Lanie." Beckett slipped past Castle who was, curiously, still in the same spot with his eyes glued to the body.

"Ryan, Esposito, what have you got?"

"Her purse was sitting right on the bed with her other bag. It looks like she was all packed up and ready to go." Esposito offered.

"According to her I.D. her name is Evelyn Tanner. Not local though, Maine drivers license." Ryan added.

"Well, it's a start. Let's get her cell phone and check the calls going in and out, then contact those people and get an alibi. Have forensics dust the whole room for fingerprints, and I want a list of every guest on this floor and all staff on duty last night and this morning." Ryan and Esposito scurried off.

"And get me a bible!" she called after them. "I want to know what Genesis 2:15-2:17 is!"

"You won't find and prints, and I doubt any of the guests heard anything."

Everyone looked up as Castle walked into the room.

"Do you know something we don't Castle?" Beckett asked, taking a step closer to him. He kept going with a faraway look in his eyes as if he hadn't heard her.

"Genesis 2:15-2:17 says 'Then the lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and guard it. He told him 'you may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.'' It's the story of Adam and Eve."

"Wow Castle" Ryan said, popping up beside him. "Didn't take you for a religious man."

"Mystery writer secretly memorizing the bible. That's a twist I didn't see" Esposito cut in.

"What's going on Rick?" Beckett asked, sensing something was wrong.

"I don't make a habit of reading the bible. My uncle Adam was killed, 2 years ago. He crime scene…it was identical to this one. They never found the killer. They got Adam and now it looks like they got Eve." With that he turned around and walked out of the hotel room. Everyone within hearing distance of the famous author simply stared after him, eyes wide and mouths open. Beckett shot a look at Ryan and Esposito.

"Stay here and make sure everything I said earlier gets done."

"Sure thing detective."

Kate Beckett then did something she had never done before- rushed off a crime scene.

"Rick!" she called running after him and catching him at the elevator. "Rick" she said again, putting her hand on his shoulder, realizing then that she didn't know what to say to him next. He turned around and Beckett was pushed back a step by the sheer force of the pain in his eyes.

"Kate I…" he started but was cut off by the elevator arriving. "Care for a ride?" he finished, gesturing to the open doors and faking a smile. It was all she could do to nod. They stood in silence for a second until the detective broke the silence.

"Castle…I am so sorry…" her voice trailed off as he turned to face her, his eyes locking onto hers.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It's just…he was like a father to me, the only father figure I had." He looked down for a second before putting his hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes again, eyes that told him he could trust her.

"You have to do this for me Kate. I trust you, I know you can do it."

She looked at him, confusion in her eyes. "Aren't you…"

"No. I can't help you with this one detective, but I know you can do it without me. I need you to do this without me Kate."

The doors opened and he walked out, leaving the detective staring after him. He didn't look back.

**Dun dun dun! What will happen next? Keep reading and find out. Also review pleasse? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! As always I don't own any of this. Also sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. The next one should be much faster. And thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! It is such amazing motivation to know people are reading. **

**Chapter 3**

Richard Castle sat in his office looking at all of the notes from his uncles' murder. Thanks to connections with the police force at the time he had gotten most of the official case notes. He knew he would have to tell Martha and Alexis sometime soon, but he was putting it off for as long as he could.

"I have to tell them" he told himself. "As soon as they get home" he resolved. He didn't want to pull them away from whatever they were doing.

He sat in his office trying to get some work done on the next Nikki Heat novel, but that afternoons' crime scene was still clouding his mind. He ended up staring at his computer screen for almost an hour, until he heard the front door open.

"Yeah grams" he heard Alexis say as he got up. "You'll be the star of the show with that act."

"Oh hush. You know I don't enjoy being made fun of."

"What are we making fun of her for this time?" Castle chimed in.

"Grandma hit some guy in the face while she was juggling, I think he broke his nose."

"First my lamp, then someone face? We're all doomed. Alexis, you stay away from her." He managed to fake a laugh as Alexis giggled at his joke.

"Oh, you two" Martha said, walking into the kitchen to get herself a drink. "You can always get another lamp, and I'm sure he will be as good as new in a day or two." She came back in and sat down next to Alexis.

"So dad, how did the call go today?"

"Actually…I need to talk to you guys about that."

"What happened? Is everyone ok?" Alexis asked frantically, thinking of her dad and detective Beckett.

"Yes, what happened? You're not hurt are you Rick dear?" Martha chimed in.

"No, not exactly" Castle paced back and fourth nervously.

"Dad, just tell us, you're making me nervous"

"Ok. Do you remember when Uncle Adam was killed?"

"Yeah, what does that have to do with today?"

"Of course I do" they both replied. Castle stopped pacing and looked at the two most important people in his life.

"Today, there was a female victim. Apart from her gender, the crime scene was identical to his."

"Oh my gosh dad" Alexis got up and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, I know what Uncle Adam meant to you. This must really suck."

"Thanks sweetie" he said hugging her back.

"Oh honey I'm so sorry" Martha said, waiting her turn to hug her son. "At least this time you'll have the chance to help them find who did it.

"No mom, I…" just then his phone rang. He looked at the caller I.D. "It's Beckett."

"Oh dad, you should get it." He hit ignore.

"No, I already told her I couldn't help out with this one. I'm too close to the case, I'd mess something up."

"Well, whatever you need to do my boy, " Martha said, "I'm here for you."

"Yeah dad, me too" Alexis added, giving him one more hug before heading up to bed.

Rick Castle poured himself a glass of wine, then as a second thought brought the whole bottle back to his office with him and sat down in front of the case notes again. He had a feeling this would be a long night.

Meanwhile….

"Damnit Castle!" Kate Beckett yelled.

Instead of going back to the crime scene after Castle left her in the elevator, she had spent the afternoon trying to find all the information she could on the murder of Castle's uncle. She soon realized without a location or even a last name she wasn't going to get anything. She had just placed her second call to the famous author's cell phone, but with no luck. She couldn't help but be slightly hurt that he was ignoring her calls.

"Maybe he doesn't have his phone on him" she though. But that was ridiculous, he always had his phone.

"Maybe I said or did something…No." she took a deep breath. "He just doesn't want to deal with this case." The detective still needed the information from him though.

She checked her watch. 9:32. she tapped her fingers on her desk for a second, then grabbed her coat and locked up the precinct, hailing a cab.

Fifteen minutes later she was standing at Rick Castle's front door. She had been here a few times before, but suddenly found herself nervous. What if he wasn't home? What if he didn't want to see her? Nonsense, she was just there for the information, purely business. She closed her eyes, held her breath and knocked.

**Tada! Ok so you guys need to let me know what you think of these split chapters. If you don't like them ill make sure not to use them in the future. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is a bit shorter, but I wanted to get it out really soon. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 4**

Rick Castle opened his front door to see detective Kate Beckett standing there with her eyes closed. Maybe he had too much wine, but he found it a bit strange.

"Beckett?"

Her eyes flew open. "Castle, hi." She noticed his eyes were a bit glassed over, then looked down and saw the almost empty bottle of wine in his hand. Oh jeeze, she thought. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

"Do you want to come in?" Castle asked, standing aside.

"Yes, thank you."

"Glass of wine?" he gestured to the bottle he was holding.

Oh what the heck, she thought. "Sure, that would be great."

He took a long drink straight from the bottle he had been holding, then opened a new bottle and poured them both a glass. He handed her one and sat next to her on the couch.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise, but I assume you aren't here just for a visit?"

"No, not exactly," she replied, suddenly nervous again. She wasn't sure how he would react to her questions. A couple sips of the win calmed her a bit, but you didn't need to be a detective to see that he was a bit of a mess.

"So what can I do for you detective?" he asked, taking a gulp of his wine.

"I…I hate to ask you this, but I need all the information you can give me about your uncles murder."

He looked at her silently, finished off his glass of wine and got up. "Wait here," he said walking to his office. Kate took another sip of her wine and realized, almost unfortunately, that it was almost gone. She drank the last sip and set the glass on the table as Castle sat back down and handed her a thin manila folder.

"The case file from the murder," he said pouring himself another glass.

She didn't realize he was watching her as she looked through the file. Between sips of wine he noted the way her eyes scanned the pages, the way she held her mouth when she read something interesting. She was beautiful.

She looked up as he set down his, once again, empty glass. I have to say something, she thought. I can't let him keep drinking like that.

"Rick…" she started, setting the file down. She looked him in the eye. "Are you ok?"

He looked back at her so intensely she had to drop her gaze.

"Do I look ok Kate?" he asked, looking at the floor. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

She looked back at the man she had become so familiar with. Every time she thought she knew him, he showed her a while new side of himself. She had never seen him this upset. Was he crying? She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Castle, I'm here. You know if you need to talk, or anything."

He looked up at her and she saw the tears threatening to spill over. She couldn't help but pull him a bit closer and rest her hand on his other shoulder.

"Thanks Kate. I'm sorry you had to see me like this." He suddenly had the urge to kiss her. He moved his face a little closer to hers and noticed that she didn't pull away.

"Will you do something for me?"

She nodded, breathless at his proximity.

"Will you stay with me for a little while?"

She nodded again, and this time she was the one moving closer, brushing her lips against his.

He felt her lips touch his and something in him, probably the entire bottle of wine, made him press his lips closer and kiss her back. He brought a hand up to her face and ran his fingers through her hair before tracing the line of her jaw with a fingertip. He marveled at how soft her hair was, how smooth her skin was. He opened his mouth and traced her lip with his tongue, and heard her breathe in sharply.

Kate Beckett suddenly realized what she was doing and pulled back.

"Castle…" she said laying another soft peck on his lips.

"Yes detective?" he said smiling.

"You've had way too much to drink."

"So? You didn't seem to mind a second ago." He leaned in for another kiss. She stopped him by putting a hand in his face and pushing him back gently. She couldn't help but laugh at his childishness.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall on the left" he said still looking at her.

"Thanks. And if I'm going to stay for a little while you had better pour me another glass of wine," she said smiling and heading down the hall.

He watched her close the door with a smile on his face, then raised his hand to the spot where detective Kate Beckett's lips has just been pressed against his. He couldn't wait to see what happened next.

**Well? Review and tell me what you think! The next chapter will be longer I promise!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I hate these things but I don't want to get in trouble :p As I'm sure all of you know I (unfortunately) don't own castle or any of the characters. **

**Chapter 5**

Kate Beckett blinked her eyes open, coming out of a deep sleep. The ceiling she was looking at wasn't hers. Neither was the couch she was laying on.

"Shit" she sat up with a start, looking around at Richard Castle's living room. She didn't remember falling asleep. She noticed the empty bottle of wine on the table next to the couch. Oh my god, she thought. She was getting up and getting her coat when her host walked in holding a plate of waffles and bacon.

"Morning detective" he said with his trademark lopsided grin.

"Morning" she said though a fog of confusion and, if she was being honest, a bit of a hangover. She looked down and noticed two pain killers on the plate she had just accepted.

"I made coffee too" Castle said, setting a mug on the table. His words seemed to break the spell she was under.

"Castle, what am I still doing here?" He just smiled.

"Castle, I swear if we…" he cut her off.

"Relax detective, after we…kissed, you had a couple glasses of wine, I told you about my uncle, and you fell asleep."

"Oh, well…good" she took a bite of the waffles. They were amazing. As she was about to get another one, her cell rang. It was Ryan.

"Hey Ryan, what's up?" she said, motioning for Castle to be quiet. He chuckled and took their plates to the kitchen.

"Great, bring him in" he overheard while doing the dishes.

"Yeah, I just need to stop at my house and then I'll be there." She paused and a shocked look came over her face at what she had just implied.

"Well, I'm…I was…it doesn't matter where I am, I'll be there as soon as I can." She hung up the phone and headed to the kitchen where Castle was putting things away.

"That was Ryan. Apparently our vic had a boyfriend she broke up with a week ago."

"Sounds like a solid lead."

"I'm, um, going to get going…"

Castle turned around and stood there looking at her for a second. He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her in a hug. Beckett was surprised but hugged him in return.

"Kate…thanks for staying last night, and listening to me. It really means a lot to be able to talk to someone about all of it." She pulled back and looked at the man that had his arms around her. It felt so amazing, just standing there with him like that.

"Anytime Castle. I'm glad I could help."

She found herself looking into his eyes and wondering if it was only the wine that had fueled their kiss last night, if it would be the same now. He must have been reading her thoughts because all of a sudden she found herself pressed between his body and the counter. So this was what it's really like, she thought, kissing Rick Castle. They were both fighting for dominance. He let his tongue trace her lips and felt them part, allowing him in. He felt his fingers in her hair and the way her hands around his waist were pulling him closer. He had been dreaming of this for so long, and now he had no words to describe it.

She felt his hands gently tugging at her hair, tilting her head back and gaining access to her neck. His lips moved from hers to her ear, laying a playful nip on her earlobe and laughing as she sucked in a breath. She felt his lips move again, this time to her neck and she let her hands travel up to rest on his chest. She was amazed at what she was letting him do, and how good it felt.

"Rick…" she said breathlessly, putting pressure on his chest to put some distance between them.

"I have to go"

He took a step back and looked at her. He saw hesitation, along with something else, in her eyes.

"Now here's where you slap me for getting touchy, or threaten me with you gun before walking out." He said grinning.

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"No, I'm not going to hit you, or shoot you" she laughed and he mocked relief.

"But…this can't happen Castle. We work together."

He held up his hand. "Say no more detective. You set the pace, you set the rules. This will be whatever you want it to be. Take your time."

She leaned up to place a peck on his cheek. "Thanks Castle. I really do have to go now though."

He dropped his hands and followed her back to the living room. She grabbed her coat and stopped with her hand on the doorknob. She turned around.

"I'll call you later, let you know how it goes. If you want that is."

He handed her the case file and smiled. "That would be great. I know you can solve this. Now go do what you do best."

She smiled and closed the door behind her.

While Kate was at her apartment getting changed she recalled her last night with Castle. She remembered the conversation they had about his uncle.

"_Will you tell me about him? Your uncle I mean."_

"_He was practically my father. He raised me as much as my mom did. When she was on the road acting, I stayed with him, at least while I was younger. When I was older he was the one I went to when I couldn't talk to my mom."_

Kate had just sat back, sipping wine and let him talk. She had seen that it was helping him. She had listened to him tell stories about how his uncle had been the one Castle called the first time he got sick from too much to drink, how he was the first person Castle let read one of his stories, how he had been the one to teach Castle how to drive.

He looked so happy talking about his uncle that Beckett could see how devastated he had been when the murder happened. Seeing this crime scene first hand had just brought everything back.

The detective was brought back to reality by her phone going off.

"Beckett" she answered.

"Yo boss, when are you getting here? We have the boyfriend in the interrogation room now." Came Esposito's voice from the other end of the line.

"I'm on my way now, be there in 10 minutes."

She grabbed her coat and ran out the door, forcing Castle, temporarily, out of her mind.

**Ok so this chapter was mostly fluff…but I felt like writing some of that and I figured nobody would really mind. Haha. Next chapter will have some good murder mystery solving going on I promise! Don't forget the pretty review button below!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long. Eek! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Also just a note: I started writing this before the events that took place in the episodes 'Tick Tick Tick' and 'Boom' (Near the end of season 2)vso I have chosen to act (in this story) as if they didn't take place, or as if it was before those episodes. **

**Chapter 6**

Kate Beckett strode into the precinct as confident as ever and dropped her coat on her desk. She knew if she let last night with Castle show on her face, Ryan and Esposito would be all over it. Just then the duo walked into the room.

"Hey detective, what took you so long?" Ryan asked, grinning.

"And where were you at 9 o'clock this morning that wasn't your apartment hmm?" Esposito said, high-fiving his partner. "Did our workaholic boss actually have a hot date that turned into a slumber party?"

She shot them a death glare. "It was not a date. Now where is the info on our suspect?" she held out her hand.

Ryan held the file out but kept a grasp on it. "Oh, so it wasn't a date but you _were_ with someone?"

She sighed. "Ok, you really want to know? Come closer, it's a secret." Both her partners' eyes got huge, and they leaned in. She let go of the file she was holding and grabbed each of them by the ear, eliciting squeals of pain and surprise from the two detectives.

"None of your business!" she said loudly, letting go, grabbing the file back and smiling a little bit as both Ryan and Esposito rubbed their ears.

"Am I going to have any more trouble from you boys?" she asked, closing the file.

"Interrogation room 1" they said in unison

Sitting in the bleak, gray room was a young looking man with brown hair and stubble on his chin.

"Kevin Sonners?" he looked up.

"Yeah, what is this all about?"

"I'm detective Beckett, is it true you were dating Evelyn Tanner?"

"Yeah, we dated for almost a year. What's going on?"

"Your ex-girlfriend was found dead in her hotel room this morning. Can you tell me more about your relationship with her?"

"She was going back to school here. She already had a degree in law, she was a judge, but she was going back to school part time. The semester ended and we broke up because she was going back to Maine for good. She didn't want anything long distance."

"What was she going back to school for?"

"She just loved learning, she was just taking a few night classes in different things. An English, another law class and a biology class I think."

Kate asked him a couple more questions about their relationship. She took notes as he talked.

"What happened to her? Do you know who killed her?" he asked when she paused in her questioning.

"That's what I'm trying to find out, I just have a couple more questions."

"Yeah, of course"

"When was the last time you saw or talked to Evelyn?"

"I think she called two days ago to tell me she was leaving. She was supposed to get on a plane home yesterday"

"Was there any hostility between the two of you? Before or because of the break up?

"We got in the occasional argument, but it was never violent. When she said she wanted to break up…well I didn't want to, but a long distance relationship wouldn't have worked, so I let it go easy enough. We were going to keep in touch."

"Ok, now I have to ask you this, but where were you yesterday morning and the night before?"

"I was at a club from about 9 until about 2, then went home. Got into bed around 3 I think, and slept until almost noon."

"Alright, I think we are all set here." Beckett got up and went out to where Ryan and Esposito were waiting.

"He didn't seem very upset about the break up or her death" Ryan commenter.

"Yeah but he didn't seem nervous or anything either. I have a feeling he isn't our killer. Esposito, check his alibi, Ryan, check the school records for our victim and verify his story."

"I'm on it"

"Sure thing detective" came the replies.

The familiar tone went off a second later.

"Beckett" she said, answering her phone.

"I'll be right down" she slid the phone shut. "That was Lanie, you guys stay here, and I'll go see what she found."

Fife minutes later, detective Beckett walked into the morgue.

"Hey Lanie"

"Hey honey" the M.E. said looking up from the body. "Where's your handsome sidekick today?"

"He's, um, not helping out with this case," she said looking around.

"What, did you scare him off? I saw him at the crime scene yesterday."

"There was another victim of the same killer two years ago, identical crime scene. The victim was Castle's uncle. He said he couldn't handle it."

Lanie noticed something in her friends' eyes and tone of voice.

"You gonna miss havin' him around huh?"

Becketts' eyes got wide. "What? No…I…we're staying in touch, I told him I would keep him filled in on the case."

"Oh, so is that where you got off to last night and this morning? Comforting our dear Mr. Castle?" by this time Lanie had a huge smile on her face and couldn't suppress a laugh at Kate's reaction. Becketts' jaw dropped open and she stared in shock.

"No! I…how did you? It wasn't like that!" the detective managed to spit out, realizing that her cover had been blown.

"You're not the only one I talk to around here you know. Now girl you had better give me details."

Sighing, Kate Beckett resigned to her fate. "Ok, meet me at my place after work and I'll talk, but for now lets' try and solve a murder ok?"

"Fair enough" Lanie said, walking over to the body with Beckett in tow.

"Ok, so even after a full body exam, I didn't find any wounds on her body. I put the time of death between 6 and 8am yesterday morning.

"And the cause of death?"

"Tox screen came back and she had a lethal dose of hydrogen cyanide in her system. This girl was poisoned."

On her way back up to her desk, Kate though about tonight's meeting with Lanie. She looked at her watch. A little after noon. Lanie got out at 4 so she had some time to kill. The elevator got to her floor and she got off.

"Detective" Ryan called her over. "I talked to the school, they confirmed what the boyfriend said. She was going part time, taking three classes, but didn't register for another semester. I also confirmed what he said about her being a judge. She presided over a few cases here five or so years ago, but had to go home to Maine due to a family emergency. Once that was all taken care of she came back here a little over a year ago to go back to school."

"Awesome, where's Esposito?" she asked, taking the notes from Ryan and sticking them in the file.

"He's out talking to witnesses at the club."

"Good work, I'm going to get all of this up on the white board."

An hour later she sat there staring at pictures of two murder victims, an empty-looking timeline, a question mark under 'suspects' and not enough information to do a whole lot with.

She took a lunch break and came back a little more refreshed to find Esposito back as well.

"Hey Esposito, what did you find?"

"Multiple witnesses and the bouncer say they saw him come into the club a little after 9 and stay until 2, like he said. Security cameras at his building verify that he came in around 2:30 and didn't leave until he came here. He's not our guy."

"I figured, thanks. You two finish up the paper work and you guys can go home, you were here early." She turned and went to take Kevin Sonners off the suspect list.

It was almost 3 o'clock by the time Kate Beckett decided to stop staring at the murder board and head home to get ready for what was going to be an embarrassing, yet much needed, girls night. It was about time she talked to someone about what was going on in that head of hers.

**So? What do ya think? Next chapter out really soon I promise! It will involve the Beckett/ Lanie girls night…and maybe more Caskett fluff? Hmm….reviews will only help! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Told you it would be out soon! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

When Beckett got home she put on a comfy shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She set out a bottle of Lanie's favorite wine and called to order a pizza. She looked at the clock. It was jus 4 o'clock now so she had about half an hour until her friend showed up. She picked up her phone and dialed Castle's number.

"Hey detective" came the familiar voice on the other end. She smiled.

"Hey Castle. I just called to give you an update on the case."

"Oh cool. What's up?"

"Well, it wasn't the boyfriend. He has an alibi with witnesses. The victim is a judge that was temporarily going to school."

"What was the cause of death?"

"Don't you know already? Didn't your uncle…"

"Well detective," he cut her off. "If you had actually read my uncles' file, you would know that they never identified the cause of death."

"Oh, right. Well out victim was poisoned. Given the other similarities, I assume the same thing happened to your uncle."

"Poison?" his voice perked up a little bit. "That is so cool."

"Castle! This is a human being we are talking about!"

"I meant cool in the best sort of way, I promise. What sort of poison?"

"Hydrogen cyanide. It's used in some states for…" he cut her off again.

"For the execution of some criminals in prison. Now how does someone get a hold of that stuff?"

"I don't know. There are a couple of things I'm going to check on tomorrow, but for now I think the investigation is at a standstill."

"I'm sure you'll get it Beckett. You always do."

"Yeah, but I usually have a little help."

"Detective!" Rick said, faking shock. "Are you actually saying that you need me around?"

She could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"Castle, if you ever repeat any of this conversation I swear I will make your life a living hell, but yes, I wish we had your help on this one. I may have even missed you following me around today."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"I missed you too. And don't worry; your secret is safe with me."

She smiled. "Thanks."

She heard a knock on the door.

"Castle, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait!"

"Yes?" she asked impatiently.

"Do you know how to text? Like on your phone?"

She laughed out loud. "Yeah, don't you?" she couldn't imagine Castle not being up to date on the latest electronic phenomenon.

"Damnit!" he yelled. "Was I really the last person to get it?" She laughed again as he sighed in frustration.

"Are you done acting like a two-year-old? Because I have to go."

"Yeah, sorry, have a good night detective."

"You too." She hung up the phone and answered the door. It was the pizza boy. She paid for the pizza and had just set it in the table when there was another knock on the door. She rushed back and opened it.

"Hey girl" Lanie said.

"Hey Lanie, come on in. The pizza just got here."

Lanie settled down on the couch and grabbed a slice of pizza as Kate opened the wine and brought them both a glass.

"Alright honey, I've waited long enough. You better tell me what's going on with you and Mr. Good-Looking writer."

Kate took a sip of her wine before saying "I don't really know what to call it."

"Well, tell me what happened, and don't leave out the details."

Kate grabbed herself a piece of pizza and started in on how she had gone over to Castle's to get the information about his uncle and ended up drinking wine.

"And then I, well, I sort of kissed him." She took a sip from her glass and measured her friends' reaction. Lanie's eyes got all wide for a second and then went back to normal.

"Finally, one of you did it. Though I'm surprised it was you. So what happened next?"

"He asked me to stay for a little while." She told Lanie how she has a couple more glasses of wine and listened to the author talking about his uncle.

"This man practically raised him. It's no wonder he was so upset by this."

Just then Kate heard her phone buzz. She looked at it to find…a text from Castle? It read 'OMG did this actually work?' She laughed out loud and sent him a message back saying 'wow Castle, I'm proud of you'. She set her phone down and looked up to see Lanie staring at her, eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"What the heck was that about? You were grinning like a five-year-old at Christmas."

"Oh, it was a text. From Castle."

"Mhmm. So you told me how you got there, and kissed him, now tell me how you ended up there this morning."

"Well, he was talking about his uncle, I fell asleep on his couch, and he didn't wake me up. When I woke up this morning I was still there. He makes the most amazing waffles." She said, recalling that morning at Castle's apartment. She thought about how good the waffles had been, and how good the second kiss had been.

"Ok, now, I know you're not blushing like that just because of some waffles"

"'Well, there was another kiss…" she told Lanie everything. About how good it felt to kiss Castle, to be in his arms. And she told Lanie about how he had told her that she could make the rules about their…what should she call it? Friendship? Relationship?

"He told me I could take my time with it." She said, setting her glass down.

"Well, do you know what you want to do?"

"I don't know Lanie, we work together. He's one of my best friends and I don't want to ruin that, but if I'm being honest…I like him. A lot. I kind of want to know what it's like to date the famous Richard Castle.

"Well then sweetie, there's your answer. Now I'm going to get out of your hair and you better call, or text, that man and get him over here and tell him what's going on."

Kate stood up and walked her friend to the door, giving her a hug as she left.

"Thanks Lanie."

"Anytime Kate, good luck." She closed the door behind her and Beckett walked back to where her phone lay on the table. She nervously dialed Castle's number. He picked up on the second ring.

"What can I do for you detective?"

"Castle? Will you…come over? I want to talk to you"

"Sure. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I just need to talk"

"I'll be there in a few." They both hung up.

Castle grabbed his coat and headed to the door.

"Where are you going dad." Alexis asked.

"Over to Beckett's. She needs to talk."

"Oh, ok. Night dad"

"Night honey." He got into a cab and was knocking on Beckett's door fifteen minutes later. She opened the door and let him in; looking a lot more nervous that he had ever seen her. They sat on the couch.

"So will you talk already? It's making me nervous how nervous you are," he smiled at her and she gave him a weak smile back.

"Sorry, I…I just don't know how to say this."

"Well, take your time." She looked up.

"You said that this morning too…" she slowly reached a hand out and laced her fingers in his. She smiled a little bit and rubbed her hand with his thumb.

"I don't need more time Rick, I know what I want. I want to give this…us…a try."

She paused and looked up at the man that was sitting next to her. He was wearing one of the biggest smiles she had ever seen. Before she knew it their lips were locked together, her fingers in his hair. His arms were around her waist, holding them together as she leaned forward and gained the upper hand. Time seemed to stand still as they lay in each other's embrace. Kate Beckett was breathless and she didn't care. Finally she pulled away. After catching her breath for a second she sat up.

"There have to be rules though," she said.

"You name it" Castle said, laying a kiss on her cheek.

"Nothing can change at work. I'm not going to let my personal life interfere there."

"Of course" he planted a kiss on her jaw.

"And it's up to me to tell Ryan and Esposito"

"Sure" he planted a kiss on her neck.

"And we take this slow," she looked at him seriously. "I don't want to ruin what we have or lose you." He nodded.

"I told you Kate, you set the pace." She kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Thanks," she kissed him one more time and then stood up.

"I have to get up early to go to the precinct, so as much as I'd love for you to stay, I think you need to go."

"What? Kicking me out so soon?"

She grabbed both of his hands in hers and pulled him up, dragging him to the door.

"Rick please? Tonight was a big deal for me. I want to get a good night sleep."

"I know, I know. I'm going."

He leaned down and gave her one last kiss before shutting the door behind him. Neither one of them knew that the other was leaning against their side of the door smiling and thinking how happy they were.

**Hope you all are still enjoying the story! And thanks to aero09, cyn23, Beckett NYPD, Elishak, texasloves9, andy1990, gracie127, Eliza c., Nathan fan, TappinCastlefan, castleelovee, Livz-Purple, ELfict, stevieLUVSAlex, underarrest39, osulover, nor east, and RealityVSimagination for all your wonderful reviews! I mean to do that sooner so the list wasn't so long but there you have it. Also I have the main idea for the story planned out but if there are any suggestions for fluff or filler or anything like that they are always welcome and I can try to work them in. thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Finally! I know I know, there are no excuses for how long it has been since I posted a chapter. And this isn't the longest one I've ever posted. But I hope you enjoy it anyways. And to make up for my absence and the length of this chapter there is a link to a little something extra I did at the bottom. But you have to read first! :D**

**Chapter 8**

Beckett walked into the precinct to find Ryan and Esposito staring at the murder board.

"Find something?" she asked, coming up behind them. They both jumped and she smiled.

"No, just trying to figure out what's missing." Ryan said.

Kate thought of something and perked up. "Well, the killer used hydrogen cyanide, which you can only find from the prisons. Esposito, find out if any prisons reported any of it missing or stolen. Ryan, you and me get the fun job."

Esposito walked off to the phone and Ryan turned to Beckett. "I have a feeling you're being sarcastic."

"Bingo. We get to go through all the files of the people our Eve had anything to do with while she was a judge here." She pulled out a box of manila folders and handed a stack of them to Ryan. Kate felt her phone go off. She opened it to a text from Castle saying 'have a great day at work detective'. She shut her phone and smiled, sitting down to start going through her stack of files.

Her smile quickly faded as she realized how tedious it was looking at all those cases. It looked like their victim had been given all the easy cases. There were mostly traffic violations or juvenile cases of teenagers getting into fights at school. There were a couple of domestic violence cases and one case of theft that she set aside, but when Ryan said he had the same findings she decided it was time for coffee. Sitting back down at her desk with her mug in hand she called Esposito over. "Find anything?" she asked.

"Sort of" Esposito said, handing her a page of notes. "There was a vile of liquid hydrogen cyanide reported missing from the Harmen Prison, but it never actually made it to the prison. It was listed as lost in shipping from the warehouse. There were never any suspects. All the prisoners were searched and nothing was found. The date it was reported missing is a month before the death of Castle's uncle. Did you guys find anything?"

"Not much," Ryan said handing the stack of files to his partner. "Looks like our vic had mostly traffic court and juvie cases. Couple of major offenders, but nothing sending up a whole lot of red flags."

Esposito flipped through the files as Beckett went over to the murder board and added the missing poison and the name of the prison. Suddenly something clicked. She spun around. "Guys, check all of her case files, start with the ones we pulled out, and then do the rest of them. Look for anyone that was put in the Harmen Prison at any point before the first murder." She grabbed a file and started checking.

An hour later they had the names of seven people who had been in Harmen prison. Three of which had gotten out before Adam Castle's death. Kate read off the names. "Mike Dobson, Marie Copper, and AJ West."

She walked over to the murder board and put the names under 'suspects'. She turned around with a devilish smirk on her face. "You know the drill boys, let's bring 'em in."

Castle sat staring at his computer yet again. He couldn't remember ever having this much trouble writing. He had had a little bit of trouble figuring out how to kill off Derek Storm, but this was different. Now he just didn't know what came next. He closed the laptop and rubbed his eyes. Opening them he glanced at the picture he had on his desk of himself and his uncle the one time they had gone fishing.

"Don't worry uncle Adam, Kate will figure this out. She knows what she's doing." He paused and smiled. "You would like her. I know I do."

"Talking to yourself again dad?"

Rick looked up as his daughter Alexis walked into the room. He pointed a finger to the left. "You mean you can't see them too?"

"Haha dad, very funny" They both laughed. "Still stuck on your writing?"

He stood up and started pacing. "I just can't figure out what happens next. How was school?"

"Oh, the usual" she said, flipping her hair back. "There's a dance coming up and grams is going to take me shopping for a dress. Can I have some money?"

He pulled out his wallet to realize he didn't have any cash. He took a credit card out and handed it to Alexis. "No going overboard."

"Dad, you know me, do I ever go overboard?" she said, giving him a hug.

"$500 limit!" he called as her and Martha waltzed out the door. He looked at his phone and smiled to see a text from Beckett- No, from his girlfriend.

'Bringing in 3 suspects now. Wish us luck'

He wished her good luck then put his phone down, still smiling. He was amazed at the turn things had taken. Happy, but amazed. He had hoped that one day he would be able to call detective Kate Beckett his girlfriend, but he never expected it to be so soon, or her that made the first move. I guess that's just part of the reason I'm so attracted to her, he though. She does things her own way or not at all.

He realized that he still had to tell Alexis and Martha what happened between the two of them. He decided to treat himself to dinner while he waited for them to get home from shopping. He put on his jacket, walked out the door and onto the street thinking about his beautiful girlfriend.

**Next chapter will hopefully include the interrogations and maybe a date? Who knows? Now here is the extra tidbit I promised! For everyone who has seen an episode or two, you should (hopefully) know right away what it is. Let me know what you think please :)**

**.**

**if anyone has trouble with the link let me know and ill try and find some other way for you to see it :) You can also find the link on my profile page. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Took forever to get this up. Sorry! Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 9**

Detectives Beckett, Ryan and Esposito all marched into the precinct with a suspect in tow. Beckett silently wished she had Castle there. It had been almost a year since she had brought in and interrogated a suspect without him. They each left their suspect in an interrogation room and met back at Beckett's desk.

"What's with the face Beckett?" Esposito asked.

Ryan chimed in "Yeah, for once you don't look excited about an interrogation."

Crap, she thought. This was not how I wanted to tell them about me and Castle. But, she sighed, oh well. Here goes nothing.

"I'm just…used to having Castle here."

Ryan and Esposito shot a glance at each other.

"And you miss him?"

"How cute"

She glared at them and cut their laughter short. "There's something else…me and Castle have decided…" she paused and took a deep breath. Just spit it out. "To be together." She watched as her partners' jaws dropped. She smirked a little bit as they regained their composure.

"Wow" Esposito said. "Congrats detective."

Ryan laughed a little bit. "Finally." He quickly corrected himself as Beckett shot a warning glance at hm. "I mean congratulations'."

"Thanks guys, now we need to go talk to these guys. Ryan you take the woman, Esposito you take AJ West. Now that you guys know about Castle and me, I need to go tell Lanie."

"What about the suspect?" they asked in unison.

"Oh, I think I can let him sit for a few minutes. He's probably done something to deserve it." She smiled and walked away.

A few minutes later Beckett walked into the morgue to find her friend filling out some paperwork.

"Hey girl" Lanie said without looking up.

"Hey Lanie, got a minute?"

"Something about the case?"

Kate shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Not exactly…"

Lanie looked up. "Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good. What's going on?"

"It's actually really good, so far, I think."

"Well spit it out already," the ME said glaring at her friend.

"Well, you know how I told you about how I…kissed Castle before spending the night on his couch?"

"Mhmmm"

"Well, I sort of asked him out" the detective said closing her eyes and bracing herself for Lanie's reaction.

"Finally!" Lanie got up and gave Kate a hug.

Kate rolled her eyes. "That's what Ryan said too." They both laughed.

"I am so glad things are working out for you, and I'm glad you told me, but don't you have work you should be doing detective?"

"Oh yeah, " Beckett said, heading for the door. "I have a suspect to interrogate."

Detective Beckett walked into the interrogation room and slammed the file on the table, waking the man that was slumped over in his chair.

"What?" he said, jolting awake. "Oh, hey."

"Mike Dobson?" Beckett said, sitting down.

He looked her up and down before raising his eyebrows and saying "At your service."

She rolled her eyes and decided she was going to have to be hard on this guy to get anything out of him. "Mike, do you know why you're here?"

He leaned back and out his hands behind his head. "I have a feeling you're going to tell me."

Kate took a picture out of the file and slammed it on the table. "Evelyn Tanner, ever seen her?" She watched him closely, looking for any sort of reaction. Mike studied the picture for a second then leaned back again.

"She's cute"

"Answer the question"

"Never seen her, or at least she doesn't look familiar, but I meet a lot of women detective," he said grinning and looking at where the top button of her blouse lay undone.

Kate Beckett cleared her throat and put her game face on. "Mr. Dobson, I am a real New York City homicide detective and that girl in the picture? She's dead right now, and you Mr. Dobson are a suspect. You're facing a murder charge, it would be in your best interest not to lie to me."

"Lie to you? Detective, why would I do that?"

"I don't know, but you are." She pulled some papers out of the file and laid them on top of the picture. "Court documents from when you were sentenced to two years in prison. Evelyn Tanner was the judge."

Dobson looked at the papers and then looked detective Beckett in the eye. "So what? She was my judge, that doesn't mean I had anything to do with her death."

"Maybe not, but it does give you motive. Where were you between six and eight a.m. the morning of the murder?"

"I was at Radar lounge the night before, then went home with a sexy redhead. I didn't leave her place until seven or eight the next morning."

"What was this girl's name?"

"I don't know, it started with an M. Mary…Monica…Megan! It was Megan!"

"And does Megan have a last name?"

"Not that I know detective." Mike sat back again grinning. "If there's nothing else you need me fore I'd like to get out of here now."

"I can't keep you here Mr. Dobson, but you had better not leave town until we have this case solved." Kate Beckett stormed out of the room and Ryan and Esposito came out of the observation room.

"Jeez detective, lit into him kind of hard didn't you?" Ryan said sitting down.

"He deserved it, the scumbag. Did either of you guys get anything from your suspects?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary" Esposito said.

"Both recognized our vic as their judge, but said they hadn't seen her since they got out."

Beckett chewed on a fingernail, still seething from her interrogation. "Alright, Esposito, check the alibis for all three suspects. Ryan, I want eyes on Mike Dobson at all times. He's hiding something and I want to know what it is." Her partners nodded and went off to get the jobs done.

Kate decided she needed someone to help her unwind. She decided to see if Castle was available. She sent him a text, hesitating for a second before hitting the send button. _Dinner tonight?_

She sat down to finish some paperwork while she waited for a reply. A few minutes later her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen. _My house, 1 hour?_

She sent her confirmation then closed her phone and grabber her jacket, deciding she needed to go home and shower first.

Once out of the shower she dressed casually in a pair of jeans with a red tank top and a black over shirt, which she left unbuttoned. She ran a brush through her hair and put on some eye shadow before looking herself over in the mirror. Satisfied, she put a coat on and grabbed a taxi. As she gave the driver Castle's address she laid her head back, smiling a little bit as she began to relax just thinking about a fun dinner with Castle and his family.

**Well? Please review and let me know what you think! The more reviews I get the faster the next chapter will be up! And a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed and added this story to their alert list and favorites! I appreciate it so much.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or any of the characters.**

**Now what could I have written that involved threats of arrest and chocolate covered strawberries? Read to find out! :p**

**Chapter 10**

Kate Beckett stood outside Castle's door, suddenly nervous. This was the second time in just a few days she had been there, which was nothing out of the ordinary, but she was worried it would be different now that they were a couple. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts. It was just dinner, and she had eaten over there plenty of times over the past year. Nothing would change, she wouldn't let it. She knocked on the door and waited just a few moments before Martha opened the door all dressed up. Kate looked down at her plain jeans guiltily. "Wow Martha, if I had known this was a formal affair I would have worn something nicer."

"Don't be ridiculous," Martha said smiling and stepping aside to let Kate in. "You look marvelous. And besides, I'm going out, it's just going to be the three of you tonight."

"Ah, well have fun."

The older woman waved as she shut the door behind her. Kate turned around to see Castle heading over to her from the direction of the kitchen.

"Hey" he said, sweeping her into a hug that immediately relieved a little bit more of her stress.

"Whatever you're making smells amazing." She stepped back and began to head towards the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't," Castle stepped around her and blocked the entrance to the kitchen. "You don't get to see what I'm doing until it's all done."

"C'mon Castle," she said putting a hand on his chest to try and push him aside. He didn't budge.

"Nope, it's a surprise. Alexis!" he called as he took his girlfriend by the shoulders and steered her to the couch. "Wait here." He went back into the kitchen.

Kate looked around. On the couch beside her she noticed Castle's top of the line laser tag gear and smiled, remembering the time she had walked into the middle of a laser battle between him and his daughter. Her thoughts at the door now seemed silly. Nothing had changed, and from the looks of it, nothing was going to, for which she was glad. She liked the way things with Castle were, both on duty and on the rare occasions when they got together off duty. Even if they were an official couple now she didn't want anything to change.

She heard someone coming down the stairs and saw Alexis Castle heading in her direction and smiling. "Hey detective" she said sitting on the couch next to Kate.

"Hey Alexis. You know you don't have to call me detective, Kate works just fine."

"Sorry," Alexis said, laughing a little bit. "Habit I guess."

"Oh, no worries. So I assume your dad told you to hold me hostage until dinner is ready?"

"I get to go to Owen's after dinner if I keep you in here," said the redhead, throwing an apologetic glance at Kate.

Beckett laughed. "Well I guess I won't make this hard for you. How's school?"

"Pretty good. I have a project due next week and then finals. And we have to start picking classes for next year,"

"Oh, cool. Are you taking anything exciting?"

"Well, there's the required English, math, and science, but I need three electives. They are offering this class called 'Inside the Criminal Mind' that I was thinking of taking."

"Oh neat! If you need help with it let me know."

Just then, Rick popped his head out of the kitchen. "Everything's ready, c'mon into the dining room."

Kate and Alexis got up and went over to the table but Kate stopped short when she saw what was on it. In the middle was a giant fondue pot with a cheese sauce. Surrounding that were plates of chicken, shrimp, veggies and various breads.

Castle noticed her staring. "What? You don't like fondue?" his face fell.

Beckett looked away from the table and laughed at his expression. "No, I love it, I'm just surprised. It looks great."

A smile returned to his face and they all sat down and began to enjoy the meal. A little while later the doorbell rang. Alexis got up and put her plate in the sink. "That must be Owen. Can I go now dad?"

"Sure thing sweetie"

"Thanks dad, I'll be home later," she said giving him a hug. "Bye Kate." And with that the spunky redhead was out the door.

"She's a good kid" Beckett said, dipping a shrimp in the fondue sauce."

Castle smiled. "Yeah, she is. So, are you ready for dessert? And then maybe you'll tell me what got you so wound up at work today."

Beckett's initial reaction was to deny being stressed out. "I wasn't wound…" she stopped short when Castle gave her a skeptical look. She sighed. "Am I that easy to read?" rick nodded as he got up and brought the fondue pot into the kitchen.

"Ok well, truth be told, I missed you at work today. I've gotten used to having you around when I interrogate suspects."

Castle came back to the table carrying the fondue pot, this time filled with melted chocolate, strawberries, bananas, pretzels, marshmallows, and almonds. "You missed me detective? How cute." He set everything down and dipped a marshmallow in the chocolate before popping it in his mouth.

"Castle, if you ever repeat what I just told you, I will gladly find something to arrest you for." Kate said, eyeing the strawberries. She decided 'what the hell' and grabbed one, dipping it in the chocolate.

She noticed Castle eyeing her and decided to have a little bit of fun. She slowly brought the chocolate covered strawberry to her mouth, taking a bite and making sure to get some chocolate on her lips. She then licked her lips, slowly removing the chocolate and smiled satisfactorily as Castle's jaw dropped.

"It wasn't just missing you, ya know. Two of the suspects will probably get cleared and I got to interrogate the pervert from hell."

Castle snapped out of his day dream. "What do you mean pervert? He didn't do anything did he?"

Kate was almost surprised at his concern. "No, just tried to look down my shirt. I'm hoping his alibi doesn't check out." She could feel herself getting agitated again and stuck a marshmallow in her mouth.

"Hold on there detective," Castle said, moving his chair closer and putting an arm around her. "No need to get all upset now. You're here to calm down remember?"

She dipped another strawberry in the chocolate and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Sorry. You know me, I have a tendency to not leave work…at work."

Rick laughed. "This is very true." He hesitated and she sensed there was something else he wanted to say.

"Something on your mind Rick?"

He took a deep breath. "I've been thinking, that if you wanted me to I might be able to come back to the precinct and help out with the case."

Beckett sat up and looked at him. "Are you sure you can handle it?" she remember how much of a mess he had been over the case just a couple of days ago and didn't want it to happen again.

"No, but I give you full permission to kick me off if you think I start acting up."

"Sounds like a plan Castle, it'll be good to have you back." She smiled up at him and was once again amazed at how handsome he was. How had she ended up with the famous Rick Castle? She had been such a huge fan for so long, she almost didn't feel worthy. She noticed him looking back and dropped her gaze.

Rick put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to his. He looked at her for a second before softly pressing his lips to hers. Kate was surprised at the gentleness of the kiss, but amazed at how much passion it still held. She parted her lips and allowed him to deepen the kiss. She lifted her hand up and ran her fingers slowly through his hair.

At that moment they both herd the door open and hastily broke apart. Kate looking a little bit ashamed and Rick with a huge grin on his face.

"Hellooo" Martha said as she swept into the room. "Not interrupting anything am I?"

"No mother, we were just cleaning up."

"Oh good, now I'm going to bed, have a good night."

"Goodnight" Rick and Kate said in unison.

"Castle you want help with the dishes?"

"Don't be silly, tonight was for you. Do you really think I would let you help clean up your own dinner?"

"Hey, I was just offering. I guess chivalry isn't dead after all."

"What can I say? I'm a gentleman."

Beckett walked over and wrapped her arms around him. "I should get going. Big day tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll get your coat." They walked to the door and he handed her the jacket before opening the door for her.

"Until tomorrow detective."

"Can't you ever just say goodnight?"

He smiled affectionately. "Goodnight Kate"

She smiled back. "Goodnight Rick."

**Reviews please? Next chapter out soon!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

Kate Beckett sat at her desk staring at the murder board. As usual she was one of the first few at the precinct. She looked at her watch. If Ryan and Esposito weren't there in half an hour with information on the alibis of the three suspects she would give them a call. She realized that she was drumming her fingers on the desk and picked up her mug of coffee to still them. She brought the mug to her lips only to find out it was empty.

"Damn" she said, setting it back down and chewing on her thumb-nail. She was on edge and she knew it. It was the first time her and Castle would be working together as an official couple and she was worried about how he would handle the case.

Every time she heard the elevator door open she looked up hopefully, and every time she was disappointed. She looked at her watch again. Fifteen minutes until she could call either of her partners. She went back to staring and chewing her nails.

"You look anxious detective."

Kate spun around, wide eyed, to find her handsome author grinning crookedly and holding two cups of coffee.

"Maybe this will help," he said, handing her one and letting his hand brush hers as she took it. She shot him a glance that was half warning and half wanting. "Don't worry detective, I remember the rules. At work we only do work."

She smiled and took a sip of the warm liquid. "Thanks." They both turned back to the white board.

"Doesn't look like you have too much to go on right now," Rick said, scanning the few notes written down. Kate noticed how his eyes lingered on the pictures from his uncles' case.

She sighed. "Not really. We have someone tailing Mike Dobson and Ryan and Esposito are checking alibis for all three. They should be here any minute." She took a sip of her coffee and glanced at Rick, who was studying the board carefully. She heard voices coming closer and turned to see Ryan and Esposito walking in. They stopped when they saw who she was sitting next to.

"Castle, you're back," Ryan said as a big grin appeared on his face. Castle turned around and smiled in return.

"It's true, here I am."

"Castle man, it's great to have you back." Esposito said, holding out his hand, fingers scrunched together, skyward. Castle reciprocated in traditional feed the birds fashion. It was obvious that the three men had missed working together.

"Oh, I almost forgot, there are donuts in the break room," Castle added.

"Sweet," Ryan said as him and Esposito made their way to the break room.

"Hold on a minute. Where do you think you two are going?"

The two men turned around to see Beckett standing with a hand on her hip and eyebrows raised.

"There's donuts…" Esposito said, pointing to the break room.

"Ah, no," Kate said smiling. "I don't think so. Anything on the alibis?"

The two men looked sadly in the direction of the treats but turned back to Kate. "The lady said she was walking her dog in the park. We asked people around there if they had seen her and a few recognized her, said she was there the same time every day, including the morning of the murder." Ryan said, closing his notebook. Kate nodded and scribbled a few things on the board.

Esposito took over, "The other guy, AJ West, has a job as a janitor in a local school. Day of the murder he clocked in at 6:02 and didn't leave until 2:30."

Kate jotted a few more things down and turned around. "Ok, you can go get your donuts but then you're filling me in on Dobson." The two guys smiled and bolted for the break room.

Castle turned to his partner. "So what now?"

"Now, we go tell Montgomery what's going on with…us."

Castle followed her when she turned and started walking. He almost slammed into her when she stopped short and turned around. "And Castle?"

"Mmm?"

"Don't make me regret this."

"I'm insulted, detective, that you think…"

She cut him off by taking a step closer and lowering her voice. "Castle, please do not turn this into some kind of joke. This," she gestured between the two of them, "is a big deal to me, and having it common knowledge this soon isn't exactly easy."

"I'm sorry. It's a big deal to me too. No more jokes, I promise."

She raised an eyebrow.

He smiled and specified "Ok, no more jokes about us at least."

"Thanks." She nodded and knocked on the captain's door before opening it and stepping inside. Castle followed and shut the door behind him.

Montgomery looked up. "Castle, I heard you were back."

"It's true sir, I just needed a couple days to figure some things out. This case hits a little close to home. But I'm back full force now."

"Good, good. Well if you need more time don't hesitate to take it."

Castle nodded and looked at Beckett. She cleared her throat. "Actually sir, we're here because we need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's going on?"

Beckett looked at Castle with a suddenly nervous look on her face. He put a hand on her back and continued for her. "The two of us are together now."

"We just wanted to keep you informed sir."

"Well, well, well." The captain smiled and leaned back in his chair. "So the two of you finally decided to give it a go hmm?"

Kate blushed "Yes sir."

"Castle"

"Yes captain?"

"You had better not screw this up."

"Why is everyone so convinced hat I'm going to mess this up?"

They both looked at him skeptically.

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to my best homicide detective. You break her heart and you're in big trouble."

"Understood sir."

"Good, and as long as your relationship doesn't get in the way of work, I don't see a problem with it."

Beckett chimed in. "It wont be a problem sir, thank you." The two of them left the office and sat down at Beckett's desk. Castle noticed the file he had given her from his uncles' case.

"Find anything relevant to this victim?"

"Apart from the obvious similarities? No , but I have to ask…do you know or have any connection to any of the three suspects? Or did your uncle?"

"I've never heard of any of them, and if my uncle did he never mentioned them. He had a lot of interns at his office though. And some of the janitors and maintenance staff in the building are hired through parole officers."

"Alright, I'll see if I can get a list from his office." She hesitated. "I'm also going to have to ask Martha the same question. You understand."

"Of course. She will be home tonight. Do you have to question her here or can you come over for movie night and ask her then?"

"As much as I'm sure you'd like to see you mother being interrogated I don't think that's necessary." She laughed as his face fell. "Movie night hmm?"

"Yeah, the three of us do it every week. We take turns picking the movie. Alexis said she would forfeit her turn to pick if you want to come."

"I don't know, we have a lot of work to do."

"C'mon, it will be fun. Any movie you want, we are at your mercy."

She laughed. "Well in that case I guess I could get there around 8."

Ryan and Esposito came dashing out of the break room. "Dobson is on the move." Esposito said, hanging up his phone.

"The guy we have watching his place says he's packing suitcases into his car." Ryan said through a mouthful of donut.

Castle turned to Beckett. "Didn't you tell him not to leave town?"

"I sure did." She turned to her partners. "Let's go see where he's going. Tell the detective watching him to follow if he leaves before we get there and keep us updated."

Esposito nodded and flipped open his phone. As they were all heading for the elevator Castle asked "Can I drive?"

As the elevator doors closed both Ryan and Beckett looked at him and said in unison "No."

**Now that Castle is back with the team hopefully the murder can get solved! Also I have gotten a little writers block with this story, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions I welcome them with open arms! And of course if I use any of your ideas I will give you credit in the disclaimer or at the bottom here. Thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hopefully this chapter will make sense to everyone. :p Enjoy!**

**Chapter 12**

The two unmarked cars carrying Beckett, Castle, Ryan and Esposito pulled up to Mike Dobson's house along with another police cruiser just as he was putting another suitcase into the trunk. Everyone but Castle hopped out and pointed their guns at Dobson.

"Man, I really need to get one of those," Castle said, looking around.

Beckett glared at him. "Not now Castle."

Dobson had turned around and was staring at them with his hands up. "You know detective, you should really keep your pet on a leash." He said with a smirk.

Ryan chimed in, "Hey Dobson, didn't detective Beckett here tell you not to leave town?"

He put his hands down. "She might have mentioned it."

"Then where are you going with all those suitcases?" she asked, taking a step closer to him.

"He's running," Esposito said. Beckett looked at him. "I got a call on the way over. His alibi doesn't check out. Nobody at the club remembers seeing him that night and security cameras at his building show him leaving at 6:30am and coming back at 8."

"This isn't looking good for you Mike" Castle chimed in.

Beckett glared at him again but turned back to the suspect. "Well Mike, looks like I have to arrest you for murder. Are we going to do this the easy way or do I have to shoot you?" She took a step closer.

Mike opened his mouth as if he didn't know what to say and then he turned around and bolted.

"Wrong choice." Beckett called after him as she took off in pursuit. Ryan and Esposito followed close behind while Castle brought up the rear.

He crossed the street, stopping traffic before ducking into a crowded restaurant. When they got to the restaurant the four of them split up. Beckett followed Dobson, Esposito went through the kitchen and Ryan went around back. Castle followed Beckett.

Beckett and Castle threw open the back door at the same time Ryan came around the corner. Mike was trying to climb the fence.

Beckett stopped and drew her gun again. "Mike, get down here now or I _will_ shoot you."

"She's not kidding man," Ryan said, drawing his gun.

A sudden burst of anger flared inside of Castle. This was the man who had killed two innocent people, one of whom was his uncle.

"I don't think so pal." He said, charging past Beckett and grabbing Dobson by the ankle, pulling him to the ground.

"Castle, step away from him," Beckett yelled at Ryan came up to put the handcuffs on Mike.

"I couldn't let him get away" Castle said, staring at the man on the ground.

"Castle, if you can't handle this you need to go wait in the car."

"I'm fine."

"No Castle, you need to go,"

He looked at her for a second then nodded and walked back to the street. Beckett helped Ryan get the handcuffs on Mike. "Mr. Dobson you're under arrest for evading a police officer and the murders of Adam Castle and Evelyn Tanner." He cursed under his breath as they walked him back across the street. Beckett was putting him into the back of the cruiser when the detective who had followed them to the scene called her over.

"Hey detective, you're going to want to see this."

She walked over to where he was standing by Mike's car. Before she looked in the trunk she asked him "Did Castle come back over here?"

"Yeah, he told me to tell you he would see you at either and then he got in a taxi and left."

She nodded. "Thanks. Now what do we have in the trunk?"

"Well, when you guys chased after Dobson, I decided to look and see what he was taking with him." They both looked down into the trunk. There were three suitcases ad a smaller bag. All four were lying open. One was filled with cash, mostly bundles of $20's and $50's. The second suitcase contained a few clothes, a couple books and some other personal possessions. The third one was filled with clothes and had a gun lying on top. She looked closer and noticed the serial numbers had been scratched off.

"The last bag will be the one you're interested in." the cop said. Kate carefully reached in and pulled out a small bag of what looked like weed. She pulled out two more bags that held some sort of pill and a white powder.

"There's more," the officer said.

Kate reached in one more time and pulled out a syringe and two small vials of a clear liquid. The medical labels on the vials identified them as hydrogen cyanide.

"Well at the very least we can put him away on drug charges. You can take him to the station. We will stay here and tag all of this then meet you there for the interrogation."

"Sounds good. Thanks detective." The officer hopped into the car and turned the lights on as he headed to the station. Beckett, Ryan and Esposito tagged everything, put it in the car and followed. When they got back to the station they sent all the evidence down to the lab. Kate sat down to do some paperwork and wait for the results before going into the interrogation.

Esposito came up with some papers in his hand. "Results from the lab," he said, handing them to her. "Turns our most of the bills were the ones reported missing from the bank robbery a couple months back. The gun was stolen too."

She nodded "and the drugs?"

"Marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy. The bottles were hydrogen cyanide. I talked to Lanie and she said it matches the stuff found in the victim's blood stream."

The wheels in Kate's head began to turn. "So Dobson gets out of jail and gets his hands on hydrogen cyanide. Then he traces down the judge who put him there and used the syringe to give her a lethal dose of the poison."

"There's only two things wrong with that scenario."

"What?"

"The bible verse doesn't come into play and Lanie said there were no marks on the body indicating a syringe was used."

The elevator beeped and they looked over to see Castle walking toward them quickly.

"Castle, I thought I told you to leave?"

"I have a good reason, I promise."

"Ok, let's hear it."

"She was killed by the apple."

"Eating healthy killed her? Castle, that's obscure even for you." Beckett rolled her eyes.

"No, it was what was in the apple that killed her."

"Castle, man will you start making sense?" Esposito said.

"Ok, Ryan called me and said you found hydrogen cyanide in Dobson's car."

Kate nodded "and?"

"It sounded familiar, then I remembered my uncle had been working with hydrogen cyanide when he was killed. He had just published an article about how hydrogen cyanide might have ties to the origin of life. There were a lot of religious groups that were less than happy with his company."

"The origin of life? Sounds like crap to me." Esposito said.

"No, he's onto something" Beckett said, getting up and going over to the murder board. "Religious groups would be mad because science was taking credit for creation away from God."

"Exactly." Castle said, getting up to stand next to her.

Kate's eyes lit up. "The apple had a bite out of it. Esposito, have Lanie check the apple for any trace of the hydrogen cyanide and the syringe for any trace of apple residue." He nodded and walked off. "Castle, do you have a copy of the article your uncle wrote?"

He pulled a magazine out of his jacket pocket. "Page 12."

"Thanks. And good work." She smiled and began reading the article. "So hydrogen cyanide is lethal in small amounts. It's odorless, tasteless and colorless. It's basically the perfect poison." Castle nodded. A few minutes later Kate stood up. "Well, let's go see if we can get a confession out of this guy."

"You mean I can stay?"

"Yes. As long as you promise to let me do the talking."

"Deal."

Ryan watched from behind the mirror as the couple opened the door and sat down across from Mike Dobson.

"Well detective," he said. "I thought you were going to keep me locked up all night."

"Oh, we're going to lock you up for much longer than that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We already have solid evidence linking you to multiple crimes. So why don't you just confess now?"

Castle kept to his end of the bargain and stayed silent but glared at the man across the table from him.

"Is he going to hit me again or something?" Mike asked. "Cause it sure looks like it."

Kate looked over at Rick and back to Mike. "No, he's just observing. Now all you have to do is cooperate, sign this confession and we are willing to forget the fact that you tried to run."

"I don't confess to crimes I didn't commit." Mike said, leaning forward.

Kate had had enough. She slammed several pictures down on the table depicting the various crimes. "Crime number one, possession of a stolen firearm. Crime number two, possession of stolen bills. Crime number three, possession of illegal substances." Her voice got louder as the list got longer. "Crime four, evading the police. Crimes number five and six, the murders of Adam Castle and Evelyn Tanner."

Dobson clenched his jaw and looked at the pictures. "I'm not saying anything until I have my lawyer."

Kate stood up. "Fine, but he won't be able to help you." The two of them left the room. Rick sat down by Kate's desk while she went straight to Montgomery's office.

"Captain?" she said opening the door.

"Yes detective?"

He won't confess but we have evidence linking him to six different crimes, including the murders."

Montgomery thought for a second. "And the evidence you have is solid?"

"Yes sir, we can prove it was him."

He nodded. "Alright, I'll see he's locked up until the trial."

"Thank you sir." She shut the door behind her and went back to her desk. Castle was still sitting there. "He'll be locked up until his trial." She said sitting down.

He looked up. "Good." He stared at her for a minute before continuing. "Kate, why were you so hard on him in there? You don't really need the signed confession."

She took a deep breath before answering. "You were there for me to help when I was trying to put Coonan away for killing my mom. I want to be there for you to help put away the man who killed your uncle. I didn't want there to be any chance of him walking away."

He looked at the amazing woman sitting next to him. "Thanks Kate. I appreciate it." He looked at his watch. It was 6:00. "Well, I had better get home. You still coming over for movie night?"

"I'll be there."

"Good, I'll see you later then."

She watched the elevator doors close before smiling and thinking to herself "I can't wait to spend a night with his family."

**Hooray for the murder being solved! I hope everyone was able to follow the whole story line. Now all I need is ideas for what movie Kate beings over to watch for movie night! The next chapter will also most likely be the last for this story. Though I hope to continue to write when it is over. Reviews are appreciated :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright, here is the final chapter in this story. This chapter is a bit shorter than some of the other ones but I hope you enjoy it!**

**And stevieLUVSAlex I got this up as soon as possible just for you! I even spent my lunch break at work writing :p**

**Chapter 13**

Castle walked into his apartment to find Martha and Alexis rehearsing lines from a play.

"Oh, hey dad." Alexis said as he threw his coat on the couch. "How's the case going?"

"Good news actually. We got the guy who did it."

"Was it the same man who killed uncle Adam?" the redhead asked.

"Yeah. His name is Mike Dobson. He's some religious nut that saw uncle Adam's article on hydrogen cyanide. He managed to get his hands on some and used it to poison both Adam and our victim. Eve was a judge that put him in jail in between the two murders. That's why there was a two year difference."

"The religious people were upset about that article." Martha said. "But at least he's behind bars now."

"Yeah dad. Good work."

"Thanks guys. Now we should get some dinner before Beckett gets here for movie night."

The three of them put on their coats and left the house together.

Beckett looked at the clock. Castle had left half an hour ago and she was almost done with the paperwork for the case. She decided to leave the rest for the morning and locked everything up. Once outside she took a cab back to her apartment.

When she got home she dropped her coat on a chair and took off her shoes. She popped a piece of leftover lasagna into the microwave. After burning the roof of her mouth on the food and drinking a glass of wine to cool it down she decided it was time for a shower.

She let her work clothes fall to the ground as she stepped under the stream. The hot water and steam ran over her body, rinsing away the dirt, sweat and stress of the day. She lathered up her hair and ran her fingers through it as the suds washed out.

Half an hour later she stepped out of the running water and wrapped a towel around herself. She stood in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear. Three outfits were discarded before Kate settled on a pair of worn in jeans with a plain black t-shirt and a light grey hoodie. She had hung out at Castle's house enough in the past year and a half to know they didn't care if she looked nice. She was comfortable.

She picked out a movie, sent Castle a text saying she was on her way and hailed a cab outside her door.

Alexis was closest to the door when Kate knocked and she answered with a smile. "Hey detective, I'm glad you came."

"Alexis, please call me Kate."

Alexis smiled and stepped aside to let her in. "Did you bring a movie?"

"Of course." Kate held up her copy of Dirty Dancing. "Is your dad here?"

The girl nodded. "Dad! Kate is here! And she brought Dirty Dancing."

"Now I've had the time of my life" came Castle's sing-song voice as he appeared at the top of the stairs grinning.

Kate couldn't help but laugh. Thanks to the case she hadn't seen him this happy in almost a week. It was contagious.

He came up, put an arm around her and ushered her into the living room. "I'm glad you made it."

"Actually I'd like to talk to you alone if I could."

He looked perplexed but nodded and she followed him to the kitchen. He took a beer out of the fridge and offered her one. She took it and set it on the counter before holding out a folder she had been carrying. "I wanted to return this to you."

Castle opened it. It was his uncle's case file. Kate also pulled a small bag out of the pocket of her sweatshirt. "These are yours too."

Castle opened the bag and looked up in shock. "But these…"

"The case was closed so they aren't evidence anymore. I saw no reason not to return them."

Rick emptied the bag onto the counter. There was a watch, a tie clip, a wallet and a class ring that had belonged to his uncle. The battery on the watch was dead but he slipped it onto his wrist in place of his own anyways.

"This is also sort of my way of apologizing for sending you home." Kate continued.

He closed the distance between them in two steps and threw his arms around her. They stood like that for a minute before he could say anything. "Thank you Kate." He said into her shoulder.

He pulled back for a second before entwining his fingers in her hair and pulling her face towards his. When their lips met it was gentle but Kate could feel something passing between them, something electric. As Rick deepened the kiss she thought about how it had always been there- that buzz between them. Even from the very first case she had felt it. Whenever he got close, when they were finishing each others' sentences while figuring out a case, or that first time he had kissed her on the cheek. How could she not have seen it earlier?

She felt a heat rising up in her body and before she could control it she was running her hands up Castle's chest and pushing him back against the counter. His fingers were tugging gently at her hair and she let her hands travel down to his waist in an attempt to bring their bodies closer.

A minute later they came up for air. Kate took a step back and smiled. "We should…um…go watch the movie." She turned around and went into the living room where she sat on the couch between Martha and Alexis.

Castle stood where she had left him smiling and speechless. After a minute he followed her, but stopped at the edge of the living room. What he saw made him happier than he had been in a while. Kate was laughing and smiling with the two people that made up almost his entire world.

"She fits in here." He thought at he looked at the three most important people in his life getting along. Things were almost in slow motion as she looked up at him and smiled with a sparkle in her eyes. Neither of them knew it but they were both thinking the same thing.

"This is the start of something great."

**The End**

**Well, there you have it. The first story I've ever completed. I hope you all liked reading it. And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed and added me and this story to your favorites/alerts. **


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